Edit the Sad Parts
by Dramamine
Summary: Sakura reached out trying to fix what had been broken but ended up creating something new. The most difficult mission imaginable, handed to Sakura by the final Hokage, is the only hope left for a better future. beginning to edit story from chapter 1
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I have anything to do with its existence…

**Okay! so I did some editing working on making the story flow better! **

(Anyone feel like being my beta?)Hey I will apologize in advance for any horrible chess mistakes, I've played a total of 2 games in my life and lost both, so if I made something up, so sue me!

Edit the Sad Parts

Prologue

The sound of footsteps, would have been easily missed by most, very few ninja would have been able to pick up on the swiftness and stealth of the shinobi that was quickly zoning in on its desired destination. The figure in rags heard it very well, like thunderclaps in a storm. Not very much could get by this woman when she was able to see, but blindness had honed her ears into a useful tool. Her battle hardened face, held a grim somber expression, she looked elderly but it was impossible to assess age. Where she sat in the middle of a deserted town at a bench with a half finished game of chess in front of her, you would in all honest think her common lowly beggar. You would be right and wrong. The sound approached her quickly, soon through the barren and dead city walls a young seemingly young shinobi entered.

"Sakura" The voice held no malice, no open mockery, but just the sound of it made the women flinch ever so slightly, but enough to get the desired effect. There was nothing to that voice no emotion. Nothing.

"You've found me, congratulations" she did a quick glance up, more instinctual than anything.

"Interesting choice of location, Sakura, trying to bring out my nostalgia?" The new Shinobi shuffled restlessly as his statement brought out hearty chuckles from the one called Sakura.

"I have long since given up on you having any sense of nostalgia Uchiha Sasuke, around the time you burned our village to the ground." She took a long swig from her hip flask, a less desirable habit she had picked up from her former sensei. She laughed despite herself, and threw the now empty flask to the ground in front of her. This was the perfect place to end it. Right here in this place where it had all began. She sat on a bench leaning on the monument to the fallen Uchiha, in the middle of the Uchiha clan village, his home.

"Sasuke that is a name I haven't been called in a long time" she could only hear his voice but years of experience had made that enough. She didn't reply so he continued. "You've grown old Sakura."

"And I imagine you have not aged a bit, still beautiful, still a monster, that's what it was like last time I saw you. How long has it been since I've seen your face Sasuke, 25 years?" she felt his presence move in front of her, heard the sound of something moving 'a chair' she guessed, he sat down in front of her.

"It has taken a long time to find you." He shifted a pawn piece forward on the chess board in front of them. "Do you know why I've come?"

"To kill me I'd imagine, just like everyone else." A rag was covering her eyes but her face was pointed in his direction eerily. She moved her knight. Her free hand hidden in her pocket made a hand seal.

"hn, will you die like the dog you've become Sakura? I really expected more" he moved the pawn once more.

"I see no reason to fight anymore, I have nothing more to lose" she said it in a lazy fashion. She lightly pushed the knight into the pawn.

"Sacrifices are necessary, something you couldn't see when you had eyes." He moved his bishop diagonally, crushing the knight. "Checkmate, no more moves for you Sakura" even the dark of the night couldn't hide Sakura's wispy grin.

"Oh Sasuke you were always so in a rush to defeat your opponent, still missing details I see, you never did have a good concept on bait. Double check" He quickly surveyed the board, and saw what he missed, by moving his bishop he had left his king unprotected, her queen was lined up perfectly to take it. He suddenly detected a huge mass of chakra on the board. Explosive Talisman. He glanced up quickly at the grinning Sakura as her form melted into flower petals. Quick as lightening he responded to the threat by jumping backwards throwing his arms in front of his face attempting to protect his vitals as the tag exploded right in front of him throwing him backwards into the air. He curved his body like and like a cat arched himself mid air into a battle stance without missing a beat he activated his sharingan, and searched for her chakra.

"Explosive tags Sakura?" he mocked "Very academy, Iruka would be proud, had I not killed him of course" his attempt at taunting was wasted, the silence remained, it was strange that he could not detect her chakra nor could his eyes sense any movement. It was like she had fled the area. Which he should have been able to detect. Unless. Sasuke quickly put his hands in a quick seal "Kai!" as he suspected, like a veil being lifted from his eyes he could once more detect her chakra. There she was on a building a few yards away.

"Interesting technique Sakura, you developed a Genjutsu to mask your chakra, and movement, useless against a normal foe, but perfect for my eyes" he laughed lightly "a shame it could only work once, you wasted your chance again Sakura!"

"Wrong!" he heard the voice but was stunned when it didn't come from the figure that he had revealed with the deactivation Jutsu. As if out of nowhere a senbon appeared giving him only a brief chance to jump back and knock the weapon aside. A rain senbon followed circling him and forcing him to take the defensive. He darted his head in every direction attempting to decipher this problem, while dodging the badly thrown senbon. Realizing the Sakura on the roof was a decoy Sasuke attempted to locate the real Sakura with increasing difficulty, finally as the shower of senbon stopped the answer to this problem struck him 'a Genjustu within a genjustu' a feat that seemed impossible and had never been done before. Sakura truly was a master of genjutsu. Once more he threw up his hands into a seal "Kai!" the world continued to transform again. This time revealing a much different scenario, the decoy she had placed melted into nothing, and the real Sakura appeared none three feet from him.

"Very clever Sakura, you are still a worthy opponent even after all these years, but it ends here" He darted forward but was halted suddenly, like running into a wall, he fell backwards then got a better view, of his situation. Sakura did indeed stand in front of him, but a quick scan of her hands with his Sharingan revealed webs of chakra, he followed a strand with his eyes and found the source of the wall, all around him were the senbon that he had assumed had been thrown haphazardly now he realized formed circle around his body. Attached to each senbon was a web of chakra. She had built a cage surrounding him. He had been trapped.

"Checkmate, your reliance on your eyes has finally been your end" her voice wavered the slightest, but the grin on her face was real.

"How quickly you forget, you can't kill me and you can't keep me in here for much longer, you have accomplished nothing!" He expected his statement to have more of an impact, but she held her concentration.

"I don't need to kill you Sasuke" She quickly made hand seals 'rat, horse, monkey, release!' the chakra strings contorted slightly and dropped from her fingers and started crawling on the ground like a slug circling around him. This continued her Justu while freeing her hands.

"How much longer can your chakra last Sakura, you're starting to look tired." She ignored his sardonic tone, and slowly approached him.

"I've been waiting for years for you to come to me, so I could end this. Let me show you one last trick, something the final Hokage invented just for this occasion" Sakura began a long sequence of hand seals, impossible for most to perceive, but Sasuke's eyes followed every movement.

"Naruto?" He spat angrily "What could he possibly have invented, you put your faith in him again?" He laughed to himself "You are a fool, I'll kill you just as I killed him, he didn't have the courage to defeat me and neither do you!" hiding his growing weariness. He continued to watch the seal sequence; the pattern was like nothing he had ever seen before. He was unable to comprehend what it was leading to. Once the seals ended a small almost barely noticeable white light formed in her palm, slowly the light started to expand. She fought to maintain control as her chakra began to fluctuate; the chakra surrounding him flickered lightly. She screamed in pain as the skin around her hand began to melt away, but she continued anyway. Gasping for breath she staggered towards him and his cage.

"Naruto thought you could be rehabilitated; I know your true nature!" She roared violently "He never stopped loving you, right to the moment you killed him he still loved you, but you didn't care!" she sobbed and commenced her approach once more

"Love makes you weak, Naruto was pathetic so he died, that is how it is" he sneered idly, his voice still gave off an angry tone. Her approach caused him to subconsciously take a step back, but he only hit the chakra field.

"This is it Sasuke, I've had knowledge of this Jutsu for years, wondered for a long time what it would do, there is one final step, and for better or for worse this will be over" she was almost to him now, she approached the edge of the cage 'I'm sorry Naruto' and with speed he didn't know she could possess she rammed her hand through the barrier onto his seal. There was pain, white light washed over their bodies encompassing them with a sensation of almost being pulled apart, Sakura leeched vast amounts of chakra from his body and with all the power she could mold she released the Jutsu. Then there was nothing. No smell of decay, no sound of vultures, Just silence.

So ends the prologue! Please review after you read, I want to know if you hated it or liked it. My writing style is still on the verge so sorry for any slip ups!

Later!

Dramamine


	2. Custom Concern

**Continuing editing **

_H_ey guys! here is chapter 1! I'm a second year Psych student so if I get to technical (or for those who know the parts of the brain, over simplify!) once again I apologize :)

_"I'm not sure who I am but I know who I've been  
And I said you can't make everybody happy "_

_-Modest Mouse_

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"_Sakura!" _The voice brought Sakura out of her reverie, it sounded so familiar, but it couldn't be.

"_oi! Sakura!"_

'Naruto…?' she was so tired, but the voice broke through her haze and pushed her forward, slowly bringing her back.

"_Open your eyes Sakura!"_ her eyes? She had long since lost those. Naruto knew that, he had been there when it happened, unable to do anything to stop it. This was a nightmare. She would be haunted by his voice forever.

"_Sakura chan! I'm really worried please wake up."_

Before she could ponder this statement two hands grabbed her by the shoulders and violently shook her, this completely destroyed her trance. Her body shot up into a standing position, suddenly the world was full of brightness, light and color. She fell onto her knees with a cry and covered her eyes 'her eyes!?" yes she felt them, slick orbs. She hesitantly opened them, and looked around. Her pulse was going haywire, her eyes like a newborns darted around in every direction, her brain unable to comprehend the bombardment of information. It had not seen for thirty years. She fell onto her side as a wave of nausea struck her. Sensory overload, She remembered reading about it in a medical journal when she been a mere Chuunin. She racked her mind trying to think of how to fix it. Slowly she closed her eyes. 'Did the Jutsu restore my eyes?' she pondered this possibility briefly; she had no clue what the Jutsu was capable of. 'Sasuke, where is he?' She felt out with her chakra sensing, a few shinobi in the area, non that matched Sasuke's unique evil blend.

"Over here sensei, she just fell down and wouldn't wake up, I think she's dead!" The voice from before, young she realized. Hesitantly she squinted her eyes open, like sudden light after your eyes have adjusted to darkness, they watered and blurred her vision painfully. She sensed more then she saw an older man and a boy approach her. Her vision allowed her to see the vaguest features. She could see the yellow hair of the young boy and the shinobi vest of the man. 'A leaf nin? I thought they were almost all dead. Where am I?' She sat upright and wiped at her eyes a little, attempting to clear her vision.

"hmmm, Naruto she doesn't look dead to me!" her eyes beginning to see more clearly, saw his white hair. 'Naruto?' She quickly looked to the boy, blinking her eyes rapidly in an attempt to get a good look. 'He's too young! Too young to be Naruto, coincidence nothing more' the semblance was uncanny.

"Mizuki-sensei she was dead I'm sure of it!" The boy flailed his hands dramatically "She fell down and didn't get up?" A pout crossed, his dirt covered face "Isn't that what happens when you die?" The once called Mizuki, rolled his eyes lightly ignoring the young boys question. Mizuki, the name sounded familiar then again it was a common Fire country name, but this could not be fire country she was in. She looked around her environment, buildings stood high, a river flowed a few feet away from where she lay, and trees and lush grass surrounded the area. No fire country did not look like this anymore. She sighed heavily and looked to the one called Mizuki, avoiding the gaze of the one called Naruto, he reminded her to much of the Naruto she knew, and couldn't stand too look upon him anymore. Finding her voice she finally asked.

"Could you please tell me what country we are in?" she smiled peaceably "It seems to have faired the warring well" her voice didn't sound right, something was wrong with it. She looked at the one called Mizuki who stared at her like she had said something ridiculous.

"Warring?" He let out a soft chuckle as he cuffed her lightly on the chin "Sakura did you hit your head when you fell?" Crouching on his knee's he started to examine her carefully "As if you didn't know your own country fire, oh well!" He said amiably "Naruto run and get a medical nin I'll begin to assess her here" He didn't notice the impact his words had on Sakura whose face held an expression of shock.

'Impossible! Fire was burnt to the ground!' She looked everywhere hoping to find an answer or a way out of this dream. "Kai!" the Deactivation Jutsu did nothing to help, not that she expected it to. She would have felt a Genjutsu of that level instantly.

"Sakura what's wrong" Mizuki had a frown on his face, as he watched perform the deactivation Jutsu. She ignored his question and continued to search for answers. She looked towards the water, and then something made her gasp in shock. She could see her reflection in the water, but what looked back at her couldn't possibly be right. Her image in the water portrayed the face of a young girl. A girl she hadn't been for at least thirty years, but it was her alright; years without sight had not made her forget her own appearance. Her breathing sped up as realization crept into her mind. A wave of dizziness struck her. Laughter escaped her lips as she fell backwards, nausea made her cramp up and shudder on the ground but still she continued to laugh even when her voice went horrid she continued to laugh with all her might at the awful joke that had been played on her. "You bastard" She screamed "You brought me back!" What came after was a blur.

"_Haruno! Hold on help is on the way!" _She heard the voice but couldn't respond the world started swirling then once again she lost consciousness that day.

'This has to be some horrible joke' Being back in the past, seeing that place that so was so safe, before everything went wrong, 'The Jutsu must have failed and Sasuke put me in this dream to torture me.' To see again, she had not allowed herself to think of sight for a long time, she had not allowed herself to miss it. She had adapted grown, she became feared and known without it. 'This would be the perfect form of torture.' The more she thought about the less she believed it. Blindness had been what made the Uchiha wary of her in the first place; he had no power over those without sight. He could not put her in a dream world without eye contact. That she knew of. The more she thought about it, the more confused she became.

"… seems to have… suggest… were her parents…" the sound of voices brought her back to her current state. She had learned from years of blindness to assess her situation without any need of visual data, so she sat still as possible and modified her breathing to sound as if she were sleeping. A ninja lesson learned fairly early on at the academy was to fake sleep. She tried to pay closer attention to what she guessed what a medical nin.

"Strange, the body is perfectly fit but the brain has undergone massive trauma." The voice gave away little of the character, sounded young. She tried to listen intently but had a difficult time keeping focus. This sensation felt familiar but couldn't place the problem. "There is no visible damage to the skull." The doctor let out a frustrated sigh, she felt his chakra reach out encompass her body.

"Have you located the source of the disturbance?" another more aged voice asked.

"Yes I've tracked the disturbance to the Hippocampus it seems to have been overloaded, my guess is some sort of repression Jutsu was used on her when she was younger, the only excuse I can find for such an influx in the memory base." The chakra left her body slowly leaving her feeling depleted and empty.

'Hippocampus, that's an area in the brain responsible for memory' she hadn't been a medical ninja for a lot of years, but retrieving the information was still difficult and left her with an intense headache. she tried to think of what else the Medical nins said but realized she couldn't remember, the information had leaked through. 'Something's wrong.'

"Very astute reasoning is there anything else of note about this patient?" the voice was very calculating; he was searching for a specific answer. 'He's probably a teacher of medicine.'

"She's a Haruno isn't she?" the younger sounding one asked tentatively to the other. She heard the sound of papers moving.

"Yes, can you tell me how you came to that conclusion?" He responded quietly

"Just look at the Corpus Callosum, I heard about this unique trait in training, simply amazing. Can you imagine the personality rift this could bring out?" The young doctor sounded in awe as he continued his assessment "The Haruno clan is known for a certain genetic defect that effects the development of the chakra coils this oddity in development leads to pressure building up in the tensuke point thirty-six, the area directly above the hemispheres of the brain. This pressure has been known to eventually divide the Corpus Callosum, leading to separate identities. This is what the Haruno clan was especially known for." He listed off these facts, as if reading from a textbook. Sounded like a fairly young medical nin, but what he said struck a cord. 'I've been brought back to my body before, before everything happened, my mind is still divided!' this brought a sick feeling to her stomach.

"You've done your homework, good work Tokom-san, yes the Haruno clan is known for this specific trait, which is why they were used in long term spy mission back in the feudal war. They were able to build entire new lives without heeding there mission. What else do you know about it?"

"If I remember correctly they were never able to merge the two hemispheres successfully, and most of the clan ended up dying because of some sort of identity confusion." The one called Tokom said the last part hesitantly, he had done his homework. 'If my mind is still severed that means, my parents are still alive'

"Not just any sort of identity confusion, most were eventually driven mad and lost control of their ability to reason. Little is known on what exactly went wrong but in the end they had to be eliminated." She heard the Tokom suck in a breath of shock at what had been implied.

'If my mind is still divided, then I haven't killed them yet…' with that final thought Sakura, fell back into her subconscious, now noticing the dark that hid in the back of her mind. They had learned to work together in the future, but at this moment she felt like she might as well be housing a demon. 'I'm capable of so much more now than I was before, I have to stop this somehow, I can't lose control with the power I have now' but 'stopping this will change the future…' The future. The precious timeline she hadn't thought about in actuality until now. She was really here in her younger body, the Jutsu Naruto had created did more than she anticipated, it gave her a second chance. The future that exists now is not worth saving, 'I have to try and change things.' She remembered thinking many times over the years how she wished she could change things, this opportunity seemed too good. Nevertheless the fact that she was here meant the future was already changed. She had altered these doctors' lives by lying on this table and Naruto and Mizuki's by collapsing in front of them. These events had not happened in the original time. The consequences of such a simple change could be devastating. She had to be careful. She had to plan her changes. She had to kill her parents.

(did a bit of editing)

**IMPORTANT**! Once again please review! I love hearing your input! Review if you like the story

- Dramamine


	3. Willful Suspension of Disbelief

**More editing **

"_Blame it on the web  
but the spider's your problem now."_

Chapter 2: Willful Suspension of Disbelief

'First things first, I have to get out of here, before I taint the time line any longer' even as Sakura as these thoughts ran through her mind, a problem arose 'Chakra, my reserves are sealed!' a wave of hopelessness overtook her. To anyone passing by the area, Sakura just looked like a young at peace sleeping girl, if they were to pass her mind they would see something different, her mind was racing, her pulse was erratic. After feeling out with her chakra and not sensing any of the doctors near by, she opened her eyes and surveyed the area, for possible escapes.

'Window on the east wall, no way of opening it; breaking it will only alert the doctors and I'd probably be sedated before I could get two blocks away, door directly across from window, a cloaking Jutsu could get me to the exit, except I don't have the chakra to pull one off.' The reality of her situation hit her in full force; she let out a heavy sigh, and started looking from a different perspective.

'What jutsus could I accomplish before my mind was unsealed?' She racked her brain, for any useful abilities she had, remembering there really was none, except for precise chakra control, she had been a fairly weak ninja in her youth. 'displacement jutsu, it's the best bet I have of getting away with not to many questions asked' It was fairly common for shinobi to escape from the hospital, pride or something, being a medical ninja herself she knew that her disappearance wouldn't be looked into to much, and maybe the changes to the timeline would not be significant. Her fainting was probably caused by at least forty years of memories being jammed into her brain, which would have caused the problem with her hippocampus, but if the doctors were going to investigate that meant they'd be entering her mind with their chakra, which could reveal more than they bargained for. She could not let that happen.

'Time to get out of here!' she made a one hand seal and focused her chakra into a clone. With a poof of smoke, a copy of her appeared in front of her. As the smoke cleared, and Sakura watched her child like body come into view, a wave of shock struck her, something that had defiantly not been there in her timeline, was there clear as day on her clone, which in all probability meant was also on her. She reached forward to trace a thick black line that went down past her forehead down through her eye to her lower left cheek'

'What is this? It looks like a tattoo of some sort, or a scar.' Trying to remember when the mark could have marred her skin, her mind came to a blank. A bit shocked as her finger went through the clone; she remembered the task at hand. 'I'll have to worry about that after I get out of this hospital.' Ordering her clone into bed, she did a simple eye averting Gen jutsu that required minimal chakra, its purpose was basically to make someone look over you, often not noticing your presence, anyone actually looking would see through the Jutsu in an instant. Despite the fact that her actions required little chakra, she was already feeling the strain of depletion, not good.

'I need to hurry' with a deep breath she darted out through the hall into the currently empty corridor, a long hallway with an array of doors greeted her. 'I use to work at this hospital, where is the exit, think!' she tried to reach for the information, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to remember. Leaving it up to chance, she chose the first door on the right.

'Staircase, good! The exit is just—' her thoughts were interrupted, by someone bumping into her. She looked up quickly berating herself for not sensing anyone.

The person stumbled over her figure and fell down the stairs head first crashing a few times on the way. She cringed inwardly at the display in front of her, with one final bang as the person hit the garbage can at the bottom of the stairs, the once empty stairwell came to life. Alerted by the sound a doctor ran into the room.

"What's happened?" Seeing the poor crumpled mess at the bottom of the stairs, he ran forward bumping into Sakura on the way, pausing in confusion he looked down and in an instant he saw through the Jutsu and sighted her.

"You, what are you doing here?" confusion was evident in the way he looked at her but was quickly replaced by suspicion, he instantly took a fighting stance, but Sakura had already displaced replacing herself with the man the bottom of the stairwell, and taking flight towards the exit.

'Damn, damn, damn this is very bad!' She darted into; the common room which she knew contained many ninja's as well as the exit.

"Don't let her leave, she attacked a patient!" Feeling strong arms grab her, she instantly threw her hands through the displacement sequence, switching with a nearby plant, and continuing her mad dash for the exit, once more using the displacement to switch with a box behind a nearby counter, she crouched and suppressed her remaining chakra. A few nin of various rank, gave a quick glance around, most looked at the scene with disinterest, she wasn't much of a threat to most eyes, she looked like a little kid playing ninja, which meant she still had a chance of escape. She could see the exit from where she crouched, it was so close, but a handful of highly trained shinobi stood in her way, some were coming very close to discovering her location.

"I can't sense the kid, but she can't be far." A gruff voice stated, she heard footsteps, pass by the other side of the counter, getting increasingly nervous, she tried to think up a plan, and then it walked through the door; in a literal sense. A young man she didn't know was approaching the door, probably coming in to visit a patient in the building; if she timed it correctly she could simply walk through the door with no one noticing her. The eye averting jutsu was still in place and her chakra was too low to attempt another displacement. She slowly stood and walked towards the door, not doing anything out of place, and as the man opened the door she slipped past him into the busy street, finally reaching her goal.

'Not out of the woods yet' She continued her slow walk until the hospital was out of sight, she than released a huge sigh of relief.

'That didn't go as planned' It really hadn't, she had extensively injured someone, was spotted and chased out by an entire hospital of nins. This had defiantly not happened in the original time line.

'I can't change anything now, I have to keep moving and think of my next move' this was easier said than done. With her mind in its current state, she was almost defenseless; she had years of knowledge with no possible outlet. She walked by a store window and stopped to look at herself. 'I must be around eleven' She was defiantly not a genin yet. She most likely still was going to the academy. 'Everything I do is changing the timeline!' She thought in frustration, she continued looking at her reflection tracing the mysterious black line, across her eye. 'If I release the seal now, my abilities will improve, and I won't be placed in Naruto and Sasuke's team, but there is no guarantee I'll be placed there if I keep the seal, my actions have been erratic, no telling what I've already changed!' She let out a stressed sigh and kept going through ideas. 'I could leave, my absence wouldn't effect much, I didn't stand out much; if the academy thought I was away training with relatives until the genin finals, there would be some changes, that is unavoidable, leaving is probably the path least resistance' Sakura rubbed her temples lightly as she felt on the verge of a headache.

'What would Naruto want me to do here?' An image of Naruto came into her mind, as a child he had been full of heart and faith in the greater good, he was courageous and very happy, despite the ill treatment of the village, he loved his home very much, but time had changed Naruto, after Sasuke's betrayal and years of chasing Sasuke's shadow and watching friends and comrades die by Sasuke's hand Naruto had lost his greatest power, he might have been able to kill Orochimaru when he was a young man and at full strength, but he was never able to kill Sasuke.

'Sasuke's the variable; I have to find a way change his fate.' Naruto would not have wanted Sakura to kill Sasuke that she knew for certain. 'It would be easier to just go there now and slit his throat' her body filled with the chilling feeling of hate. Sasuke had taken everything from her; he didn't deserve the second chance Naruto was giving him.

'I have to leave, go somewhere I'm not known and train my chakra reserves, I'll have to do this without my sealed power for now, the only seals master around will not be coming back to Konoha for a long time.' She remembered when he came, she thought he was nothing but a stupid pervert, who was splitting up her team even more by taking away Naruto, but he played a very big role in her future, and she needed his help. The seal that was on her mind, was meant to separate the corpus callosum the middle of the brain between the two hemispheres, it was placed on members of her family who were born with the genetic defect of separate personalities. What the seal did was allow only one personality to be in control, it had been a fairly new development but had many draw backs. It restricted her chakra reserve by critical measures and made focus very difficult, also what was not known in this time was the possibility of the dominate personality inverting. Experiments had been done to merge the two personalities, but in this time were unsuccessful and predominantly led to death. It had been the seal expert who had, in a moment of urgency had merged her mind and restored her life.

'I am going to need help, someone who won't be considered suspicious and who didn't play a role in the future' Sakura was so deep in thought, she didn't even notice who was in front of her until she walked right into the person. Managing just barely to keep her balance while she knocked the poor person down, she looked down to see who she had hit and dropped her jaw in shock. For right before he eyes sprawled on the ground was someone she had seen in a very long time.

"Hinata!" Sakura sputtered out in surprise before she could stop herself, her eyes dropped sadly, she did not like to think about what happened to Hinata in her future. The young girl blushed a deep red and stood up quickly and bowed.

"I am very sorry, I am too clumsy" her words came out stuttered and stressed as she tried to get away from the awkward situation.

'I bumped into her and knocked her down and she still apologizes…' She looked into Hinata's ghost like eyes and felt a wave of compassion go over her. Hinata had been a very sweet girl, but had grown up in a harsh reality. It was not fair what was going to happen to Hinata. As first born it was her duty to inherit leadership over the Hyuugas. Unfortunately Hinata's father's method of training her did nothing for her, Hinata did not grow as fast as her father Hiashi would have liked and quickly gave up. Hiashi decided to clear a path for his younger daughter Hanabi, when Hinata didn't show as much promise as a ninja. He had Hinata assassinated on her eighteenth birthday, when by legal rights she was to become leader. She would never forget Naruto's rage and her own disgust.

'Did Naruto send you to me Hinata?' She smiled lightly at the prospect, she knew what she going to do was irrational and would have consequences but at the moment she didn't care. 'This is what Naruto would have wanted.' That was all that seemed to matter.

"I'm the clumsy one I really should start looking where I'm going ne?" Sakura put on a big smile for Hinata, and extended her hand and put it on the young girls shoulder.

"Hey Hinata-chan I'm going on an adventure, want to come?"

Maybe Hinata didn't have the cold heart of a Hyuuga, but she still had the soul of a Kunochi. She would prove that to the young girl.

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Chapter end! Sorry for the delay! Hope you are enjoying the story! Please  review!

-Dramamine


	4. The World At Large

Here is Chapter 3 Hope you are enjoying this story so far!

"_I'm going nowhere, but I'm guaranteed to be late"_

_-Modest Mouse_

Chapter 3: The World At Large

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There was a pause as Hinata looked up in surprise, but after a moment she giggled into her hand.

"You wouldn't want me for an adventure." She blushed lightly after her statement and bowed her head. Sakura had forgotten how timid the young girl had been. Deciding to work with what she knew about the girl, she continued convincing her.

"Don't be silly, of course I want you for an adventure. Think of how strong we can get, and how proud our parents will be." She knew she was walking a tight rope, and using some pretty low tactics of persuasion, but she knew getting Hinata out of here was priority number one; the poor girl still had a chance.

'Making her father proud is what Hinata wanted more than anything. I'll keep playing on that.' Sakura continued smiling at Hinata.

Hinata looked up surprised when Sakura finished her statement. "Do you think my father would be proud if I left and became stronger?" Hinata's voice sounded very hopeful and made Sakura's stomach twinge with guilt. 'No, Hinata he won't be proud, he'll send out his most elite fighters to track you down and they will be ordered to try and take you back alive but if necessary kill you and eliminate the risk of the Byakugan being taken from rival villages, but hey could be fun!.' She felt this would not go over well for her side so instead she continued with. "Of course, he will Hinata-chan and we'll come back to the academy for the genin exams. What do say?" Hinata seemed to be considering it which was more than she expected by the clumsy way she gave the proposition, she had forgotten how to act like a kid and felt she came off a little strange. Hinata must be wondering why she Haruno Sakura was inviting her in the first place, if she remembered the academy very well she remembered that the two of the rarely if ever spoke. For a minute Hinata looked very frightened, as she thought about the idea of leaving, than her face tightened a bit and a look of focus and determination came across her.

"Okay I'll go!" She said firmly placing her body into a strong stance for a moment, before her façade crumbled slightly and she once again blushed and shuffled nervously. 'Perfect, as I suspected she's still desperate to prove herself, I can work with this.'

"Great Hinata-chan, meet me at the front gate in 4 hours. Pack everything you think you'll need. Don't be late" Sakura quickly took an authoritative tone, years of leading missions catching up with her, she mentally chastises herself. 'I'm suppose to be a kid I can't sound like a drill sergeant, she'll suspect something if I continue this way.' Hinata did not seem to notice the slip up and nodded her head to the orders. 'Oh thank kami for her naive ness; I could easily be a spy or someone trying to capture her for her eyes.' Not one too look a gift horse in the mouth, she watched Hinata turn to leave, than she remembered something important.

"Oh and Hinata, don't tell anyone, not even your father what you are doing or where you are going, try your hardest not to be detected when you leave. Do not act suspicious." A flash of doubt came across Hinata's face.

"Don't tell father?" She didn't look as sure of her decision anymore. She took a hesitant step away from Sakura; fear crossed her face once more. She activated her Byakugan veins bulged across her face. She started scanning Sakura nervously.

"We can't have an adventure if our parents know where we are." Sakura remained calm and kept her breathing steady, the Byakugan could detect many things; lies and deceit were one of the many. It was possible to fool the Byakugan which no Hyuuga would willingly admit. Hinata stopped her scan satisfied that it was Sakura in front of her, and she wasn't trying to hurt her.

"Okay, I won't tell" Hinata stuttered this last part the tiniest bit, revealing a subtle self doubt. Sakura needed to encourage her a bit more.

"Don't worry Hinata-chan we'll be back before anyone can worry about us!" Her doubt seemed to ease the tiniest bit, she smiled lightly.

"Okay Sakura I'll be back in four, I won't let you down!" She ran off in the direction of the Hyuuga stronghold. Sakura kept a happy expression on her face until she was sure Hinata was far enough away that she would not detect the change, her face fell slightly. 'What have I done?' rationality was slowly taking over. 'If I take her with me Anbu will be swarming after us in hours, there is no where I can hide her for long.' Even as these thoughts passed her mind, she realized 'There is one place we can go, not far from here, if I remember correctly; we won't be followed there.' She turned back in the direction of her own home. 'I have to prepare myself.' As she turned she once more caught her reflection in the store window and gasped. 'What happened?' The mysterious black mark on her face had spread, curving at the bottom of her eye, it was only a slight change, but made her nervous none the less.

'I have four hours to get all the information and tools I need, I don't have time to worry about this now.' Suddenly wishing she hadn't given Hinata so little time, Sakura took off at a run, leaping onto a nearby rooftop and continuing her trek. She moved as swiftly as possible to avoid unwanted detection, darting from roof to roof, her old home quickly came into sight; with a powerful somersault she landed gracefully onto the roof of her childhood home and slowly crouched and placed her hands on the tiles, she pulsed chakra into a reconnaissance Jutsu she had learned a long time ago, that required very precise control so was seldom used. She spread a very thin layer of chakra over the parameter, which would quickly alert her of anyone approaching the area. Satisfied that she felt no one inside, she eased her body over the edge of the roof and swung herself into a window, with a roll she landed inside her house.

Her parents had not been ninja, so she did not investigate for traps. Her father had come from a long line of shinobi but her grandfather had forbidden her father from becoming a shinobi, she had never met her grandfather he had been deceased long before her birth; which is why, she supposed she had been placed in the academy.

She had discovered after the death of her parents, the artifacts of her ancestors, which is what she was here for today. She would need tools for Hinata and herself to train with. 'It's been a long time; hope I can remember how to find them.' Walking toward a rarely used supply closet, she opened the doors and peeked inside, brushing collected dust off the back; she unveiled her family crest a simple circle.

'Here we are!' content that her memory hadn't failed her, reaching her hand toward the crest seal, she placed her fingertips along the curves and pushed chakra around the circle until it begin to glow without her help. Stepping back quickly, she watched as the back of the closet fell in revealing a hidden chamber. She doubted her father even knew the room existed, despite having grown up here. A wave of disturbed dust struck her in the face and she took another step back and covered her face, and resisted the urge to cough.

'Okay, in and out; don't want to waste anytime.' Sakura entered the room cautiously, when she had entered the room the first time after the death of her parents there had been no obvious traps, or any existing ones had decayed with age, but there was no guarantee now that she was entering years earlier than she originally had, that there would be no traps still active. Diving into the room she, closed her eyes and waited, she was happy to have her sight restored, but sometimes it was distracting. It was almost easier to just listen. After a moment of focus, she was satisfied that room was secure, she re-opened her eyes and looked around the room, taking a travel bag out of the original supply closet, she began to select what could be useful. The room had shelves upon shelves of ninja, and even some non ninja weapons very few of the weapons she noted looked like they belonged to the leaf.

'These would have been my grandfather's probably collected from the war with the sand.' Picking up an umbrella from a shelf in the back she slid her hand down the base and found the trigger, taking a closer look she could see hidden senbon all through the device. 'Interesting idea, but not practical for travel.' Moving on to a shelf on her right, something caught her eye; it was a kodachi and a finely crafted one at that. The scabbard was black with crimson silk laced around it tightly, there was a red tassel hanging from hilt on closer inspection she noted a charm hidden on the tassel. Unable to look away she picked it up and held it in front of her. The weight of it was perfect, slowly unsheathing in form, she was surprised to see carved onto the bottom of the blade her own family crest.

'A kodachi is not a typical ninja weapon, interesting that this belonged to grandfather.' The blade itself was not much use to her, she had been taught the novice forms of the art of the sword, but had never taken a liking to it. It did not suit her fighting style anyway. 'Hinata, I'll show her the basics, it will come in handy for her to learn this kind of technique.' Grabbing the sword and strapping it to her back she moved on, grabbing a kunai holster, she looked at the array of kunai available to her, she noted minor differences in style from different villages, the kunai of the leaf looked rather large and awkward compared to the one's she guessed were from the sand by there semblance to a scorpion, deciding on the sleeker one's she filled her holster and filled the poison vial on the top of the carrier. Seeing shuriken on a shelf above the kunai, along with senbon she grabbed as many as she could fill into the empty slots of her of holster. Moving on to explosive tags, she noticed a scroll slightly hidden, behind a few long rusted broken metal shards, digging her hand into the pile, careful not to cut herself she pulled out the scroll, curious it's contents but stressed for time she threw it in the bag.

'Hope it's useful and not just a waste of space.' Grabbing a handful of tags and arranging them in a separate compartment of her bag, she finally started searching for what she was really here for. Digging through piles of old weapons, she finally noticed them hanging modestly in a corner, a pair of sais, her weapon of choice. The trident shaped weapons had suited her well, and they had saved her life many times, they were offensive weapons. When her Genjutsu had someone disabled she went in for the strike. It was her style to always go for the kill as quickly as possible; she never had a taste for unnecessary brutality. They were also useful when she was forced into a corner and outdone by speed and power; they always pulled the favor of the fight her way. Picking them up she instantly felt better about her situation as a sense of familiarity came over her. Taking stance, her legs crouched with one arm extended and the other withdrawn ready for a strike; she weaved them into a passive stance, and then placed them crossed on her back, for easy access. Since her chakra would not be restored for a long while, it was better to have the sais with her for backup.

Taking a final glance around the room she started to leave, and was almost out of the room, when she noticed a mask hanging over the entrance, the mask itself was a very old style, she guessed it had been a samurai's by it's demonic appearance. It radiated a very frightening energy and wondered briefly where her grandfather had gotten it. Half of the mask was Black and had a deep angry looking frown, the eye was slanted in an evil manner, and one horn protruded from the side, while the other half was porcelain white, and held a gentle smile and the eye was shaped in a mild manner. The contrast of the mask was disorienting.

'I should cover the mark on my face while I'm in Konoha; it's not unheard of for ninja to cover their faces, people won't ask too many questions.' Grabbing the mask, and finally leaving the room she replaced the door and withdrew her chakra from the seal, so it would not open again.

'Now my parents, were rarely here when I was in the academy, so they should not begin wondering where I am for a long time, but I should still write a note to cover my trail.' Walking over to the counter she grabbed a parchment and wrote a brief note to her parents, stating that she would be away training. Sakura's father had been a diplomat between the leaf and sand, his job required he travel to the sand often, her mother and father were away for most of her childhood staying in the sand for goodwill, while she grew up in the leaf.

'I shouldn't think of them, it will heed my mission.' Shaking her head slightly to bring herself back on track, she started towards kitchen, grabbing a cooking pan, and a few spices. A lesson she had learned over and over again on long missions was how much easier it became, when you had the proper cooking materials on hand. She did a mental check list.

'I'm stocked on everything essential, I shouldn't take much more or I'll be too encumbered to flee the village.' She already felt weighted down; she was not in as good of shape as she could be. 'I should get some of the training equipment, which will be useful for stamina building.' Quickly entering her room, she felt a wave of nostalgia. 'Don't think about it. Don't think about how peaceful life was.' Going into her closet she saw training weights, she had always had them but had never used them. Grabbing the weights she tied them to her ankles. They weren't very heavy, but would do the trick. Doing one final look around the area, she noticed a calendar on her desk, approaching it she noticed little red X's on the dates that had already passed. Counting back she realized she had overestimated her age, she was only about ten years old.

'That gives me about a year and a half, to prepare me and Hinata for what's to come.' It was very important to be back in time for the Genin exam. She needed for both herself and Hinata to be placed in a team. Packing the calendar in her now fairly full bag, she approached the window, with once last solemn glance at her childhood room; she leaped out of the window in a flash, racing towards her next destination.

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Hey guys! Thank you for reading! Please review, hearing from you is always helpful!

-Dramamine


	5. So Much Beauty In Dirt

Hey guys sorry for the wait! And also sorry for any mistakes I make, I don't have a beta so it might be a tad rough at times (also I only had a chance to read it through a few times). This is my first fic, still learning. Here is the next chapter hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4: So Much Beauty in Dirt

"_It takes a long time, but God dies too  
but not before he'll stick it to you"_

-_Modest Mouse_

With a grunt Sakura heaved her body into a tumble roll, to break her fall. Without missing a beat she rolled onto her feet and was running towards the academy. As she ran she gazed at the sun in hopes of determining how much time she had to spare. 'Half an hour until I meet Hinata, I still have to obtain permission to leave the village.'

She slowed to a walk as the Academy came into sight. Approaching the entrance, a wave of uneasiness hit her. 'There is an ominous presence near here.' Closing her eyes and concentrating on feeling, 'It's approaching me, quickly.' she followed her shinobi instincts and jumped back. Weapon drawn, eyes open once more trying to find whatever could house so much evil intent. Seeing nothing ahead of her, her eyes drifted down and that's when she noticed the snake. 'This is ridicules; I'm jumping at garden snakes?' the reptile wasn't very large or dangerous looking, it didn't seem to notice Sakura as she stood there at the ready, it just went on its business and disappeared into the woods. Untensing her muscles and feeling a little foolish, she put her weapon back into its holster and opened the door.

'Years of running from Sasuke has probably given me a slight phobia of snakes.' Sakura entered the classroom. "Iruka-Sensai!" Sakura called out nervously, there was no class in session, but Iruka should still be at the academy. After waiting a moment and hearing no reply she entered the classroom. She expected someone to be in the classroom, but was still surprised when she entered and found Mizuki sitting at the teacher's desk. 'Mizuki? The man from this morning. I don't remember him being at the academy, perhaps he didn't stay long.' On closer inspection Sakura noticed Mizuki didn't seem to notice her arrival, his eyes looked forward but were spaced out. A strange expression was on his face, insane happiness, but frozen there very unnatural. Drawing near the desk, with utter caution she subconsciously kept her hand at her holster. She had seen that expression before, maybe not on his face but she knew it was potentially very dangerous.

"Mizuki-san?" No reaction, not even a twitch. 'Is he dead? No he's breathing.' Taking a deep breath, she marched towards the desk, grasping for a response. Pinpricks crawled down her neck as only his eyes followed her movement, his grin widened. She stopped in her tracks as the ominous energy enveloped her once more. Crouching into a ready stance, she surveyed the area looking for an escape if necessary. Looking straight into his eyes, which were now piercing through her. 'I feel like prey, he has me feeling anxious without even moving a muscle; like a cat staring at a mouse. What is wrong with him?' Finally tired of this waiting game she began walking towards him again, maintaining eye contact.

"Mizuki-san!" she yelled it as loud as she could, the change was instantaneous he seemed to jump of a reverie, the dangerous presence snapped away and the Mizuki she had seen that very morning seemed to fade back in. His faced showed his confusion almost matching hers.

"Ah, Haruno sorry I seemed to be day dreaming." He gave her a very charming smile. "Please come in and sit down, are you okay after this morning? You had us all worried." Narrowing her eyes she approached the desk cautiously.

'Must have been some day dream…' she thought to herself

"I'm fine, must have gotten to much Sun." she spoke carefully, watching him for any sign insanity.

"Yes, the sun can be very dangerous. Now how can I help you; something just came up and i'm in a rush so if you could make it quick." His eyes darted to the exit. 'He wants to leave; this could work to my advantage.'

"I'm leaving the village to train with my relatives; I need a pass to leave the village signed by you." She kept her voice steady, stating the lie as she had rehearsed.

Any personnel with ninja training, were indebted to there village and had to make their position known at all times, If she just left and went missing she would be considered a missing nin and could potentially be hunted despite not yet being a genin. She already had too much knowledge of leaf techniques. She needed Mizuki to agree to let her leave. The Hyuuga's didn't have the same restrictions as the rest of the village until they became shinobi to the village, very often they were trained in the family and worked only for the family. So Hinata would not become a missing nin, she doubted her father would even alert the Hokage of her disappearance. That didn't mean he wouldn't send his best nin after them, which was a massive risk. The Hyuuga family could find you just about anywhere.

"Training with family, Will you be returning to the academy?" He spoke distantly as if thinking of something else.

"Yes, I will be returning just prior to the genin finals." Keeping the amount of information she gave away as low as possible.

"Good, good okay will you be leaving with anyone, or meeting your relatives?" His voice sounded very absent minded, as he quickly opened a desk drawer and pulled out a student departure paper. He began to fill it out as quickly as he could.

"Yes my cousin will be escorting me to Kalm which is just –"

"—just outside the village limits, yes I know." He sounded irritated now. He really wanted to hurry this up.

'Good' Sakura smiled to herself, as whatever Mizuki had to rush too saved her from a lot of risky explanations.

He quickly finished the required paper work and signed his name at the bottom. Standing as he handed it to her, he returned to his earlier charming disposition.

"Let me walk you out, Haruno. Do have a good trip." Gripping her gently by the shoulder he led her to the door. She merely smiled up at him, trying to look like an oblivious child, and not a suspicious shinobi. As they reached the door a question finally occurred to her.

"Mizuki-san, where is Iruka-sensai, does he not usually take care of this kind of business." Brief annoyance crossed his face but was quickly covered by a concerned smile.

"You didn't hear? He was going to see you when it happened. I guess it was before he got to your room then." He sighed searching for a quick way to explain.

"Seems there was some renegade ninja at the hospital today, when Iruka went to see you he was attacked, pushed down a flight of stairs I hear. Very unfortunate, he broke his leg. I'll be teaching the class until he's better." He put his hand on her head gently when he took her horrified expression as concern for her poor ailing teacher. "Don't worry, he'll get better, I must be off for now. Take care." Mizuki disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving her to think about her situation.

'Damn! This is not good.' she massaged at her temples roughly hoping to stop the impending headache. 'Leg's don't take a long time to heal, maybe this won't alter much.' Trying to reassure herself. 'I'll just have to deal with problems when they arise.' Feeling a burning sensation come across her face she put her palm over it the pained area, rubbing the area lightly. A quick glance at the sun pulled her out of her thoughts. 'Time to go meet Hinata.' Taking off towards the direction of the front gate, she didn't notice the eyes watching her departure from the woods.

Stopping to catch her breathe, Sakura pulled the mask from her bag. Analyzing the mask she noticed a notch on the back near the top, curiosity getting the better of her she pushed it in. Surprised when the mask broke into two separate pieces, she picked up the oni side and placed it over the left side of her face. Content that she was covered she placed the angelic side back in her bag, and started towards the gate again, only this time at a walk.

Catching a glimpse of Hinata as she neared the gate, she had to smile despite all her many tribulations. The young girl was sitting on a nearby bench darting her eyes everywhere, in a much panicked fashion. 'I guess the academy hasn't covered covert tactics yet.' Despite it being mildly funny, the rational of the situation kicked in. 'She's acting suspicious, she might be monitored.' Approaching the very frightened girl she put on another big smile, in hope of putting her at ease.

"Ah, Hinata-chan right on time!" The girl jumped at the sound of her voice and stood up quickly as if being caught doing something she shouldn't be.

"I did everything you told me to, I didn't tell anyone and I packed all my travel things." she spoke so fast Sakura had a lot of trouble understanding what she said, taking a few seconds to decipher the word spell, trying not to let her confusion show on her face. She just continued smiling her huge friendly smile.

"Oh, good job Hinata-chan; you did your first mission very well!" She made her voice as soothing as possible, she knew how much bravery this had to take from Hinata. Hinata blushed crimson and started fidget nervously, finding a new interest in fiddling her fingers.

"Now follow me over here we need to change how you look." Pulling Hinata into a nearby alley, she began to explain "I have permission to leave the village with my cousin as an escort, have you learned to make copies of yourself, or Henge?" Hoping against hope that it wasn't to early in academy training to change alter appearance or make copies.

"Ano, the academy doesn't teach that until our final year." Hinata sounded embarrassed but not disheartened. Sakura felt her hopes fall a bit 'She doesn't have a lot of training then, it might be too hard to run away with her.'

"The academy hasn't taught the class yet, but my father educated me in those techniques, before he began showing me the techniques of my family." She sounded nervous; as if she felt she shouldn't have told her. Which made sense, she bet her father began training her when she was six. He would have told her not to reveal what techniques she knew; it was a basic battle principle. 'Withhold what you can do; the element of surprise can win many battles when your strength alone can't.' She quoted in her head. 'Naruto, how many genin teams did you tell that to?' she smiled lightly to herself.

"Wow Hinata-chan you must be well trained." The praise flustered the girl even more.

"Ano, not really; I'm not talented at all." Frowning a bit at the self negativity that always seemed to follow the girl; she decided to get on with the plan before Hinata got to scared to go through with it.

"I need you to make a clone of yourself, then henge yourself into an older woman with my color hair." Hinata nodded to her order than began to concentrate. She stood for a few minutes, and just before Sakura began to believe she was putting to much pressure on the girl, a cloud of smoke appeared and a second Hinata stood beside the first. Hinata panted for a few seconds than focused again another cloud of smoke covered her and out of the fog came an image that made Sakura hitch her breathe. 'She looks like me.' She frowned slightly at the strange coincidence of Hinata's choice of image; she looked exactly as she last saw herself many years ago.

"Did I not do a good job?" Hinata's voice sounded solemn, and her face looked very crestfallen.

"Oh no Hinata you did a very good job, you just look like someone I knew once a long time ago." Forcing a smile back on her face she continued with the plan.

"Okay, you are going to send your clone to do things that you would normally do throughout the day, its going but us sometime while we leave the village, understand?" Hinata nodded her head, but still looked a little confused. Looking to her clone, it suddenly walked out of the alley and out of sight. Hinata looked back at her for further directions.

"Okay now I need you to act a little more grown up, put your hands by your side and try and not look nervous okay?" Hinata instantly made a little squeak and threw her hands away from her face and by her side, she looked absolutely stiff. 'Better than nothing I guess.'

"Okay just follow me." Taking out her departure slip, she approached the gate watcher who was standing in a booth just before the exit. He was Chuuin ranked and looked incredibly bored. He watched their slow approach and stood up to greet them.

"Do you have a departure slip with you?" handing the slip to him, she waited while he looked it over. After a few seconds of analysis he handed it back to her.

"Seems to be in order, is she your cousin." He asked gesturing to Hinata, who looked away nervously when he pointed to her.

"Yes, she'll be escorting me to the border." She said carefully, he nodded at her statement. He made a seal at the gate and it began to open.

"One thing before you leave, there have been reports of bandits around the area. Be careful." Sakura nodded, and motioned for Hinata to go first.

"Thank you for the warning, we'll be careful." She said over her shoulder as she began to follow Hinata through the gates. As soon as they were on the other side, the gates began to close again.

"Hold the henge Hinata." Sakura whispered to her "From here on out it won't be easy. We're going to have to run for a long time now, I'll tell you when we can take a break." Looking out at the wide expanse of forest, Sakura began to run North East; she had a lot of ground to cover and very little time. This was truly the beginning of a very long adventure.

Hey Thanks for reading! Please Review! I want to write so much more when I get a review! Sorry Denisen NOW we're at the adventure haha!


	6. Devil's Workday

Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, this chapter is a little short and for that I'm sorry! I'm not done with the fic yet, but have been overwhelmed with schoolwork for the last bit, I'll update when I can  here you go Tombadgerlock!

"It's a luscious mix of words and tricks  
that let us bet when you know we should fold"

-The shins

Chapter 5: Devil's Workday

Sakura slowed her run to a halt, hunching over with her hands on her knee's panting hard. Looking tiredly over her shoulder she saw Hinata worse for wear stumbling a few yards behind barely standing. They had been running at a pretty intense pace for the entire night and most of that morning, Sakura clutched her chest as the pain of her burning lungs over powered her. 'This body is out of shape.' Taking a few minutes to take a critical scan of the area she realized that she was unable to determine their location, Sakura let out a weary sigh and decided to search the area in hopes of finding the necessary path. Rubbing a stitch on her side she turned to her travel partner.

"Have a rest here Hinata, I'll be right back!" she tried to make her voice sound more optimistic than she really felt, but failed miserably. Hinata barely able to stand paid little heed to her tone and at her words fell to the ground, and curled up on the ground. She was breathing heavy, and on closer inspection Sakura could see tears in her eyes.

"I want to go home Sakura." The words sounded desperate, she didn't blame her this was probably the first time she had been away from home, and at the break neck pace she made her maintain she was probably feeling dejected.

"Just a little longer Hinata and we'll be far enough away." Reaching into her backpack she pulled out a canteen and threw it to the girl's side. Hinata feebly reached out and drank slowly. A little concerned Sakura inspected Hinata's state carefully before turning to leave, it would not be productive to completely burn the girl out and not have her be unable to move, it was best to let her rest for the time being while she did a quick scan of the area in hopes of getting back on track. Sakura jumped nimbly into a nearby tree despite her exhaustion and leaped a few yards away.

As she moved swiftly to an isolated area, the ominous feeling she had been having since she left, crept up her spine 'Something is not right.' For the last little while, she had defiantly felt watched. Not to mention she did not feel like she was on the correct path despite knowing the way to her destination by heart. 'Maybe the path changed over time, what if I led us nowhere.' A wave of fear went over here. Sitting down into a meditative position to collect her thoughts, She began to consider her prior problem. 'If the Hyuuga's had found us they would not just watch us from the shadow's they would strike, it can't be them'

Movement in the brush, brought Sakura back to reality, she quickly threw a kunai in the direction of the noise, and in a moment she was upon the brush sai's drawn. As soon as she was in range of vision she noticed the lack of threat. The cause of the noise struck dead implanted onto a nearby tree by her previously thrown kunai.

'A snake, what's wrong with my senses.' There it was hanging by its now crushed in skull, blood trickling down onto the grass below it, lightly twitching in its deaths dance. Turning away from the gory sight, she started to head back to Hinata's resting place.

'I shouldn't leave her alone for much longer, if there is a threat around she'll be easy prey."

Before she could even take a step, she heard a rustling behind her once more, and suddenly quick as lighting a sharp pain struck her in the back, bashing her into the tree, she had just nailed the snake to, reaching for her weapons, her arms were grabbed and pushed up onto the tree, intense pains went through her hands and she realized she was now hanging on the tree looking up in shock she saw a knife cut clean through her hands holding her in place. Resounding laughter surrounded her and she suddenly felt the chakra of many people surrounding her, at least five.

Screaming out in pain as the shock of the initial injury wore off, she instinctively tried to pull her arms down, causing further injury to her wounded hands; blood coursed from her hands and began trickling onto her hair.

"Traveling alone with no supplies, and in these parts no less, I think not." A deep voice stated from directly behind her. She felt a sharp edge being dragged across her back, a knife of some sort possibly. She tried to remain calm but her breath still came out ragged.

"What's that, nothing to say for yourself?" a few laughs followed his mocking tone.

"Where is your camp?" the edge that had been playing at her back, suddenly dug into her lower back the tiniest bit, her inner medical ninja determined right over her left kidney, whoever this was, was not playing around. Gritting her teeth, she tried to ignore the pain and start looking for a way out.

"You are defeated Kunochi, I can either kill you quickly or slowly, just tell me what I want to know." He pushed the knife deeper into her back. Gasping out in pain, a wave of nausea hit her.

"Looks like she doesn't want to play boys! Kanazu, Taka go scout the area, her camp is not far, I can feel it." A few mumbles of affirmations followed the order, and two presences disappeared from the area, a wave of panic went over Sakura.

'Hinata does not know how to disguise her presence they will find her in no time.'

Building up her resolve, she decided to face the problem head on.

"Who are you?" her voice sounded pained, but steady, she twisted her head as far as she could over her shoulder and attempted a glimpse. A swift punch cracked her in the face and her head struck the tree.

"Know your place girl, I'll tell you when you can speak." The deep voice barked out, then a moment passed, and silence strangled the air and finally as if bored he answered.

"Who am I? They call me Yuusuke the Terrible, I'm top of the Bingo book by now I bet." He sounded proud; one thing Sakura always depended on was a cocky attitude from a bandit.

"Oh, really? I've never heard of you." She stated, through gritted teeth as the expected blow was delivered to her back. She felt his irritation build.

"Well I'll make sure you never forget me." His voice rang with vice, she sensed his power build up and she guessed he was going in for whatever he had planned for her, when a bloodcurdling scream resounded near by.

'Hinata!' her shocked reactive gave her away instantly. Her breathing sped up, and she began to fight her restraints once more, cutting her hands into a horrible bloody mess.

"Oh is that you friend? They'll bring her back here you know, and then maybe we'll let you kill her." He whispered into her ear, she could feel his breath on her cheek, making her squirm even more.

The two that had left before jumped back into the area; she could feel Hinata's presence among them. She could hear her cries of fear.

'I got her into this, I need to protect her somehow, but I can't do anything, I'm too weak.'

She felt the kunai in her hands be pulled out and she dropped into the bandit's arms, he twisted her around to face the scene and held her by her arms, into a kneeling position on the ground. She saw the situation for the first time, there were five bandits in the area, and they didn't look like much. As most bandits were usually pariahs of society or banned villagers they generally not a threat to any Ninja but the man holding her she sensed was not your average bandit. The man holding her was in much better condition, she guessed he was their leader for a reason. He had multiple scars running down his face and bared torso, his hair was long and black and ran down his back in knotted tresses. Two of the bandits were holding Hinata in much the similar position as herself. One of the bandits was holding a kodachi over Hinata's head execution style, waiting for the anticipated order from the leader. The young girl had her eyes closed, but tears were still pouring from the edges as she silently cried in fear.

"Oi are you awake?" A kick came from behind and struck Sakura in the back, causing her to fly a few feats ahead unable to use her torn hands to catch her self, she crashed mercilessly into the ground and rolled. Yuusuke was upon her in a second grabbing her by the hair and holding her up. A chorus of laughter surrounded the area as she hung limply from the ground. She felt blood slow down her face and blind her eyes.

"Game over." Yuusuke growled, She felt chakra infuse his body, but was unable to do anything to stop him. 'I didn't even fight.' She thought weakly. Her body had been completely disabled by his blows before she could even retaliate. 'I led Hinata to her death.' Anger swelled in her chest, as she heard Hinata scream but it felt far away, a surge of pain struck her, 'I'm sorry, I failed you all.' then she fell into nothingness.

Hopefully this all made as much sense as it did in my head ha ha!

Hope you enjoyed PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!! (Deeply sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors! Spell check is currently my beta )

Thanks all

Dramamine


	7. The View

Hey Guys! I felt bad about my long wait for an update so I'll give you two chapters this week to make up for it!

"_Oh what a beautiful view  
if you were never aware of what was around you."_

_-Death Cab for Cutie_

Chapter 6: The View

A sound vibrated through Sakura's head causing her to snap open her eyes, searching desperately for the source of the noise; she was stunned to find a horrid blackness surrounded her. Trying to process her location a sudden thought struck her. 'How did I get here?' the last thing she remembered she was on the brink of death, this made no sense. Looking around, there was nothing but this strange eerie blackness for miles. 'Genjutsu perhaps?' doubt suppressed this thought quickly for it also made no sense, the bandits had fully intended to kill her, they wouldn't bother tricking her mind when they had her so close to death. Holding her hands up to her face she noticed that there was no wounds.

'Am I dead?' it seemed like the most feasible idea at the moment. This place could easily be hell. The sickening silence that menaced this place was all too familiar. Alone, in the dark, fear crept up her spine as she let loose a rage filled scream. 'I can't go back to the dark.' Jumping to her feet she started to run recklessly, searching desperately for the exit. Tears ran down her cheek, as the last of her resolve crumbled. Sheer panic coursed through her veins. Her eyes finally caught something, as she ran towards what seemed to be a tunnel of light. When she was finally close enough to see her destination she slowed to a halt, as shock filled her. Far above her head a void swirled, soundlessly a picture formed above her head, through the void, she could see her last moment before she had entered this strange place. Hinata eyes were on the ground, a huge sword raised above her head. Time appeared to be slowed, as the sword was in the commencement of being raised, but was barely moving.

"Hinata!" she screamed, hoping somehow the girl could hear her. Reaching out she desperately tried to reach the void, but it was so high.

"Useless!" A voice erupted from behind her; tensing her muscles Sakura turned to face the voice, but was shocked to see nothing.

"Who's there?" Sakura cried out desperately, a malicious laughed surrounded her, seemingly coming from all directions. Darting her head every which way in hopes of catching glimpse of the stranger, she tried to suppress her initial fear.

"You don't recognize me?" The voice was right by her ear, she could feel the breath, sidestepping into and swinging her fist into a punch, she blindly twisted her body towards her target. Her fist was caught mid swing, nausea filled Sakura's stomach as her target suddenly became visible. Ripping her arm free she jumped back landing in a crouch, and stared disbelieving at her opponent.

"What is this?" she demanded. Standing in front of her, was her carbon copy, the only existent difference between them was the eyes of her look alike were missing, nothing but black voids remained, dried blood settled beneath each socket. A disturbing smirk resided on her marred face.

"I thought that would be obvious, you may be able to fool everyone else, but you can never fool yourself Sakura chan." She drawled the last part mockingly.

"I need to get back, I have to save Hinata!" she gestured at the void rapidly, hoping to get her desperation across, the image in the void dictated how little time she had. The sword slowly made it's way toward Hinata's neck minute by minute.

"I could let you out…" her doppelganger trailed off, hope coursed through Sakura at the prospect of being out of this predicament. Suddenly her double's face transformed into a manic rage, evil intent could be felt weighing down the area. "But why would I go and do something like that." The cackles that followed her statement enraged Sakura, her fists clenched at her sides.

"I have no time for this, Hinata will die if I don't get out of here!" The frustration in her voice was evident.

"That is your failure not mine, I've been forced in this cage long enough. I will not be confined another day while you run free." A look of raw hatred was etched on the girls face. It was then that Sakura noticed for the first time, the chain that encircled the others girl's ankle a rather complicated seal surrounded the cuff.

"Your speaking nonsense, I'm getting out of here." Ignoring her double's statement Sakura began to run a good few yards out of the girl's way. And began to approach the void from another angle. A presence from above startled her 'what the?' the girl appeared overhead, cracking her in the head with a punch and knocking her to the ground. The chain appeared to not impede her movement in this place.

"I cannot let you leave." The girl landed effortlessly in front of her. Sakura jumped to her feat and assumed a ready stance, which was instantly mirrored by the doppelganger. Charging her, Sakura attacked low, but was parried by the other's fist that used the same attack. Move after move, the girl imitated her every attack, effortlessly despite not having any vision. Exhausted after countless efforts, Sakura jumped back into a defensive stance.

"Who are you?" She asked in complete disbelief. An enraged expression consumed the other girls face.

"I'm what you kept enslaved in here for your entire life. Out there you are stronger, but you are in my territory now." She spat out angrily. Realization struck Sakura.

"We're in my mind!" she was facing her sealed potential. Horror surged through her body quick as lightening.

"Bingo, and I'm not letting you leave until you release me." Inner Sakura gestured to her chains. Sakura tensed, and sent a quick look towards the void. The sword was on its downward descent now and was slowing closing in on Hinata's neck. Racking her mind in attempt to remember everything she could about her minds resident, the tension continued to mount.

'In my time the seal was released in a way that merged our mind together, if I release her now and in these conditions, she will go free and I will be trapped in here forever.' Releasing a frustrated sigh, she came to the only conclusion possible.

"I can't release you now." She said in the calmest voice possible, Inner Sakura narrowed her eyes dangerously and prepped herself for an attack.

"I'm not giving you a choice." She went in for a charge, running full hilt in Sakura's direction jumping into the air releasing a powerful dropkick into her direction, Sakura rolled out of the way, and kept a defensive stance blocking the follow up punches and kicks.

"Wait, I can't release you now, but there is a way that we can both go free." Sakura yelled in an effort to get her attention. Apparently it worked for Inner Sakura stopped her assault, and started to eye her over.

"You are lying there is no other way, this seal would not exist if there was a way." Her voice was harsh, but she was defiantly curious to hear her reply.

"No there is a way, there is a man out there who is an expert on seals, and he can help us. You are me you would know if I was lying." She reasoned, trying not to pay attention to her shortage of time.

"Why should I let you go? I could just force you to unseal me." She said, in contemplation.

"Because you need me to release the seal and the second that girl out there dies, I promise you I will never let you go, we'll both be trapped in here forever." She said darkly forcing the stress of time onto inner Sakura. Inner Sakura quickly glanced at the void and watched the sword slowly approach Hinata's neck. "We'll both lose." She added

"How do I know you will find this seals expert if I let you leave." She threw back

"I give you my word!" Time was running out, she needed this decision to be made now.

"I need more than your word." A grin slowly crossed her face. Growling in frustration Sakura looked straight at her blinded self.

"What do you want me to do?" She asked evenly, the grin of double increased substantially.

"There is only one way for you get through the void. You will need my power to do it, but my help will always comes with a price." Inner Sakura said slowly eyeing Sakura's reaction.

"What kind of price?" Sakura's voice was tense as an ominous suspicion coursed through her.

"You need to make a sacrifice to me, something of great personal value. This pact will temporally unseal me long enough to get you through the void." Inner Sakura sent a casual glance towards the void "Better make a quick decision looks like time is almost out." Looking back at the void Sakura realized her Inner was correct; the sword was mere inches away from Hinata's neck.

"How do I know you are telling the truth?" She called out desperately

"You don't." Inner Sakura laughed, shaking Sakura's resolve.

Panic set in as she tried figure out what she had to sacrifice. 'This sense of déjà vu is overwhelming, this isn't the first time I was here, something very similar to this happened before.' Pausing briefly to consider this a memory struck her. 'My hair, I sacrificed my hair my most held dear attribute when I was a child.' A frown set in 'that won't work now, my hair is not very important to me anymore.' A sudden thought occurred to her and it all suddenly became increasingly clear. 'Of course it has been in front of me the entire time.' Looking at inner Sakura she sighed.

"If that is what it takes." Gritting her teeth, she braced herself for what she had to do. Raising her hand into the air she swung two fingers down quickly into her prone eye, gouging into it as quickly as possible. Screaming as a burst of blood and fluid shot out through her fingers she bent her fingers and ripped out as much of the ball as possible, falling to her knees, she thrust her fingers back in grabbing the socket and pulling until the tissue tore from her face. A wave of electricity ran through her body and a ray of white light flowed over her body, she felt like she was being ripped apart. The ground beneath her feat seemed to disappear and she began to freefall, she felt something grab her arm, and peered through her good eye and saw inner Sakura holding onto her dragging her weakened body towards the void, her double's power was unimaginable as she seemed to radiate with the power of her sacrifice. Her energy was slowly being leeched away, making her muscles feel heavy and useless; she looked up in fear at the Inner's face, only to find one eye looking mockingly back at her from the Inner's face. Inner Sakura gave one last heave as she pulled them both into abyss.

So ends the next chapter! Everything is going to start coming together, no worries.  Thank you for reading, please REVIEW! Every review is more incentive to update.

-Dramamine


	8. How The Gods Kill

Hey Guys! Sorry about my lack of updates! I can be terribly late with them I know. Feel free to ask questions! Here is the next segment! Enjoy!

**_"If you feel alive  
In a darkened room  
Do you know the name  
Of your solitude  
If you ain't got the answer  
If you don't know the truth  
If you want the power  
Then let it flow through  
Show me  
How the gods kill_**

**_If you feel alive  
If you got no fear  
Do you know the name  
Of the one you seek  
If you want the answer  
If you want the truth  
Look inside your empty soul  
There you'll find the noose"_**

-**_Danzig How the Gods kill_**

Chapter 7: How the Gods Kill

_ Her mind was having trouble concentrating "they're gone." Her hands drifted up to her face and felt the bandages that now covered her once functional eyes. Despair filled her. Kohnoha in the spring, the cherry blossom tree's in bloom, the sunrise as it filled morning sky, she would never see them again. She gritted her teeth in anger 'why was I so foolish.' She wanted to cry, but it seemed that even the simple process of sorrow was taken from her. Lying back into what assumed was a bed in a hospital, a warm feeling came over her as another presence approached her vicinity._

_"Sakura, I'm so sorry." Naruto's voice was filled with so much pain, for a moment she forgot why, then as she turned her head to the voice and saw nothing but black she remembered. 'He abandoned me.' The raw simple truth should have had more of an affect, it should have angered her, and it should have made her hate him, but even in this state she found that she couldn't do it._

_"Where did you go Naruto, why did you abandon the plan?" Her voice surprised her, it was so vehement, and it began to waver "why did you leave me?" She could hear him gasp, and fight to control his emotions._

_"I couldn't do it Sakura, I'm so sorry." He was crying "I will fix this; I promise you Sakura I will find a way." They were going to finish Sasuke; they had been working on their strategy for years. They were an extremely powerful team, a match for even treacherous Uchiha. The time had come, everything was going perfect, and then Naruto failed to initiate his role in the plan. She wasn't sure where he was when it all went down, but she was here now in a hospital bed. Sasuke still lived, he was still killing leaf shinobi, he was still breaking their hearts._

_"Naruto, please don't make anymore promises. Please not now." Her voice was softer now. 'Naruto has the most beautiful eyes; I will never see them again.' It struck her funny that of all the thoughts she should be having now, that this was what she was thinking about. She lifted her hand weakly towards the direction of his voice. A strong hand grasped hers almost desperately. _

_"I will find a way, to make everything right. I will never fail you again." He whispered to her sadly. She knew why Naruto couldn't kill Sasuke. It was the same reason she couldn't hate Naruto now, despite lying here with no future in sight, it was love. It wasn't fair that even despite all the years that passed, Sasuke still had that power over Naruto._

_"Naruto I…_

Sakura's head snapped up with a flash, the worst pain imaginable encompassed her entire head. Her hands shot to the pain, blood trickled through her fingers as they met the slick surface where he left eye use to be. 'It wasn't a dream' she thought grimly. Shock gripped her as she scanned the area with her right eye. She was covered in blood was the first thing she noticed. All around her were corpses so badly mangled they were barely identifiable as human. The forest around her was painted with blood and entrails. Nausea swept over her as sight, she was not used to seeing the product of violence. For the first time the ability to see did not seem like an ideal gift. 'What could have done this?' it looked like a wild animal had ripped these men apart. Concern replaced her earlier fear.

"Hinata!" she yelled desperately and began sifting through the corpses at a mad pace. 'This is a horrible way to die.' She thought sadly as she examined the severed corpses there was no sign of any weapon being used on them. She guessed they were partially eaten from the missing sections of the corpses and from their horrified expressions, probably while they were still alive. Now frantic to find the little Hyuuga child she called again "Hinata!" a whimper came from the left, she felt out with her chakra and tracked the sound. She ran over to where one of the corpses lay as she approached she recognized the leader of the bandits. He was possibly the most intact of the pack but on closer inspection she saw a hole ripped clean through his chest. 'His heart has been removed' she realized with shock. This was not the move of an insentient creature. Before she could panic over this revelation, another whimper came from right beneath her. Grasping the corpse she rolled it over to find the Hinata had been crushed under him. The girl's eyes were wide and horrified, her entire body was shaking. 'She's in shock; I need to get her out of here.' Noticing the blood that was splattered all over the girls face, she did a quick inspection and guessed it wasn't hers. 'The body probably hid her from whatever did this.'

"Hinata." The girls eyes zoned in on her and widened considerably, Sakura began to reach out to grab the girls shoulder.

"No, get away!" Hinata screamed desperately and before Sakura could react Hinata struck her with a gentle fist right in the chest knocking her to the ground, before getting up and running in a blind panic. Gasping for breath Sakura held her chest and managed to stand and run after the screaming girl. She ignored the painful sting that came with a strike from the gentle fist. She was lucky that Hinata had not had her Byakugun activated when she was struck, that blow could have killed her. Racing ahead she fast as she could manage in her state she easily pulled ahead of Hinata and jumped in front her, stopping the girl's mad dash with a shove.

"Hinata it's me, it's okay!" grabbing the girl be the shoulder Sakura tried to bring her out of the shock, but a look of sheer horror stared back at her. Hinata screamed and tried to fight out of her grasp. She looked over her shoulder to try and see what had spooked the poor girl so much but couldn't sense any foreboding chakra in the vicinity.

"Hinata you are safe." The girl stared at her in disbelief her lips quivered.

"Why did you do that Sakura?" The girl wailed "why did you make me watch that?" Hinata's hateful accusing voice struck her.

"Hinata what happened? I don't understand." Her confusion was apparent as her face wrinkled in concentration trying to remember what had happened.

"You killed them, even after they were disarmed and defenseless you still killed them." She screamed at her punching her chest with fists gripped tight. An ominous feeling filled Sakura. "Even after they begged you to stop you still didn't stop!" Hinata's voice was manic now. She had never seen the girl in this state before, even after she realized her father willed her dead she had never broken down like this before. "You're a monster!" she screamed hatefully.

"No, I didn't I couldn't have." She tried to explain disbelief evident in her tone. She looked down at her hands that were now gripping Hinata's shoulder harder now then before. Dried blood coated them beneath her finger nails, everywhere. She shook her head again. "No!" Sakura fell backwards gripping her stomach as its fullness became apparent. 'I don't kill like that, I would never –' as the thoughts went through her mind realization struck her. 'Inner Sakura' she had come through the void with her, and had left her a parting gift. In seconds she pushed herself back and was on her hands and knee's retching in painful dry heaves. Inside her she could feel her Inner's laughter vibrating through her mind. 'What kind of monstrosity are you?' she mentally accused her other self. More hysterical laughter followed her thought path. Turning off the voice Sakura gripped her head trying to focus on the issue at hand.

Gaining a sense of control she looked over at the Hinata girl who seemed to have broken off from her hysteria and was now sobbing to herself, covering her eyes with her hands. The academy taught Genin to disarm not to kill. Learning to kill came on the field. . This had been a lesson forced on Sakura when she very young and in the most unfortunate of circumstances. If Hinata had seen her savagely rip these men apart she would have learned about killing and death in a very hard way.

"Hinata, it's okay." She kept her voice even and calm, Hinata's horrified stare haunted her mind. 'Monster…' before she could stop it voices raged in her head.

"_What kind of child kills their own parents?"_

"_I don't remember..."_

"_Monster!"_

"_No!"_

"_You are disgusting."_

Shaking her head trying to stop the invasion of voices, Sakura extended her hand out to Hinata. Hinata flinched at the offered hand and turned her head away sullenly. With a sigh Sakura stood up and began to walk away. Before she walked out of the Hyuuga's line of sight she stated with her back still to the girl "I guess now it's time to make a choice Hinata, you have two options. Stay here and wait for members of your family to track you down and forget what you saw here today." With a tilt of her head she looked back at Hinata who was still on her knee's staring intently at the ground. "Or you can come with me, and become strong so nothing like this ever has to happen again." Hinata remained silent, even as Sakura began to walk away again, she didn't say a word. She didn't even move.

* * *

I'm sorry for this chapter being a little short! Time is scarce these days! I will try to update more frequently! I do have a plan for this story and don't intend to abandon it  Please Review! I love reviews! And criticism is accepted!

**Tombadgerlock** - Thanks Tombadgerlock! I am trying to be stricter with my sentence structure! Hope it shows sorry for being late with answering your previous questions here are the answers

Why Sakura can't take the seal off herself – just imagine it being like brain surgery, not something you mess with on your own.

Is Sakura's weapon going to be chakra imbued- they are very old weapons that she doesn't even know the extent of power (if they have power) I haven't decided yet ;)

-Dramamine


	9. Beginning's End

Hello all who read this Fanfiction! That you for sticking with it! I am doing some heavy editing on this story, it's been over a year since I started it and I have a few things I want to edit, especially in chapter 3 & 4. I have a lot of ideas for where this fic is going to go, but not a lot of time, so stick with it I promise you a good story!

Chapter 8: Beginning's end

-------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- --------

"_Stop it!" Naruto bellowed wit__h all his might, tears streaming down his face. He pounded his fists ruthlessly against the barrier of Chakra that held him back. Roaring with rage, red chakra slowly emitted from his core. He had her. He fucking had her; all he could do was watch._

_Cold red eyes peered at him from inside the barrier darkness cloaking the rest of his face. On the ground before the dark man was a screaming girl, nothing held her where she was; she lay on the ground withering and thrashing in pain, holding onto her head, pulling at her pink locks._

"_Let her go, Sasuke please!" canine's erupted through Naruto's lips, bloodying his face, but he didn't care._

_Sasuke knelt forward and picked up the girl by the hair, raising her until her wild pain filled eyes were parallel to his emotionless ones_

"_This is the price of trust Sakura." Sasuke said with a soft silky voice. Forcing her to once more gaze into his eyes, his pupils shifted a dilated forcing her to once more fall into his illusion. Dropping her to the ground once more, he turned to face the enraged Naruto._

"_This is her fourth minute under the mangekyou illusion; I've never seen anyone survive past two." He said conversationally causing Naruto to scream and bodily tackle the barrier._

"_Let her go, now!" full coils of energy began to emit from his body, his jaw elongated slightly._

"_Your demon is showing Naruto." Sasuke said with a hint of disgust. Sakura's screams reverberating through the forest, growing louder and louder, bloody trails began to form from where her nails gripped her face tightly._

"_I don't see why you are so upset Naruto, this is what you wanted isn't it?" Sasuke casually bowed his head in Sakura's direction._

"_How could this ever be what I want?" his rage filled voice deepened considerably_

"_You sent her out here, Hokage." The mockery was easily noted. Naruto howled in pain. Sasuke once again turned from Naruto and watched as Saukura came out of the last fit of visions._

"_Let's see how she holds up under five minutes Naruto." Sasuke trailed his hand over Sakura's throat, and grabbed on tightly, causing her to gag. Using his other hand to caress her face, he brought his lips to hers, forcing her into a violent kiss, an explosion of red chakra followed but he ignored it, parting their lips with a smirk and Sakura's pain filled moans._

"_No…" she whispered, as she felt his eyes rake her again, trying her hardest to avoid his eyes. Pain secreted from every pore, blood and dirt coated her face, gurgling from the grip of her throat she raised her hands. Sanity thoroughly removed from her body, she curved her fingers, and with one final scream thrust her fingers deep inside her eyes._

_----------------------------------- _

Sakura stopped her stride about a mile away from where she left Hinata, surveying her position she cautiously slipped into a nearby tree.

'I better leave a clone near Hinata to make sure her family find before anymore bandits.' Sighing slightly, trying to avoid thinking about what had just taken place, she molded her Chakra into a sturdy Henge, mentally sending orders to her clone. Without a second thought she turned back to her path and continued her journey through the trees.

She had not taken five steps before something to her right alerted, surprised by the sudden movement she had no time to block the punch that struck her right in the face by her wounded eye.

"No one asked me if I wanted a name." a voice suddenly right next to her ear said, turning her head slightly with a wince from the strike, Sakura missed a step in shock and plunged out of the trees as her foot met with air. Striking the ground hard, she gasped in pain but quickly scanned the trees searching for the image that had just appeared beside her. Gasping in pain, as her socket began to bleed again, sensing no chakra besides her own confusion began to set in.

"Who's out there?" She bellowed loudly

"They called you Sakura" Sakura startled once more quickly jumped to her feet and turned to face the direction of the voice. Lounging on a near by branch was her carbon copy staring at her from one light green eye. Confused and lost for words Sakura stared at her image, mouth a gape. Undeterred her look –a- like continued "For your pink hair I suppose, but they didn't call me anything. I wonder why" She rest her hand to her chin in contemplation sliding her eye in Sakura's direction.

Finding her voice Sakura managed to gasp out "How did you…?" Silencing her with a grin, her clone confidently leaped down from the branch and stood in front of her.

"Can you tell me why Sakura chan?" She purred penetrating Sakura's gaze deeply with her opposite eye, backing away from her image Sakura withdrew a kunai.

"You're a monster." Sakura snarled readying to throw the projectile at her clone; looking less confident the double didn't move to dodge but merely whispered.

"I'm you, I always knew that" she stated solemnly gazing at the sky, "but I'm still you know…me" Startled mid throw at the statement Sakura watched as the kunai slipped into her copy and burst into a cloud of smoke. Silence followed the activity and a frown set over her features.

"I don't understand." She said to no one gazing at where the kunai she had thrown now settled into a nearby tree. "What's happening?" she whispered anxiously to herself, feeling the area of her face where her eye once was.

A burst of commotion from the trees startled her out of her reverie attracting her attention, as crows flew haphazardly in every direction from a nearby location. Someone was close by. Crouching low Sakura suppressed her minimal chakra into nothing and stealthily approached the area where the crows flew out of. She estimated her destination was three miles away from her current location, but dangerously close to Hinata's.

'I better check up on her.' She thought worriedly to herself 'That couldn't have been Hinata'

Taking off into the direction she left Hinata her mind trailed back to her situation. 'It could be the Hyuuga's arrival.' She thought, slowly her stride, for cautions sake. 'In which case I should leave as quickly as possible.' Not feeling any less tension she cast her eyes toward the sky where a second flock of birds absconded into the air.

Abruptly mid run she caught sight of something shimmering in front of her, halting her stride she quickly dropped to the ground and crawled under some brush for cover and peered through for a better look. Gasping in shock she shook with uneasiness. Before her she could see the silhouette of a man's back in the shadows, it wasn't that that sparked her attention a few feet away from him planted firmly in the ground was a sword she could never forget. It was as large as a grown man, only a true master could wield this sword. If 'he' was here she had to get herself and Hinata out of here and fast. Crawling backwards slowly keeping her eye on the shadows until she was far enough away to make her escape towards Hinata's direction at breakneck speed. Sun began to set as she ran through the trees.

Zoning in on the area she estimated she had left Hinata, she ran through the trees as quietly as she could, every twig that snapped and leaf that crunched made her internally wince, but fear for Hinata's wellbeing had taken over. Suddenly below she caught sight of black hair, silencing herself she jumped down stealthily as not to alert Hinata of her presence.

'The last thing I need is for Hinata to scream right now' frowning at the memory of Hinata's tear filled eyes and the look of fear she had when she last looked at her, she decided the best way she was going to get her out of danger safely was going to be to make sure she could not make any noise. Nodding to herself she quietly approached Hinata's small form from behind, darkness had set so she could not determine her condition; she appeared to be gathering small flowers that shone brightly in the moonlight.

Once Sakura was close enough to where Hinata crouched, Sakura quickly jabbed her finger into the nap of her neck, causing her to quickly tense in shock, but slowly crumple. Quickly pulling Hinata into her arms, she maneuvered her onto her back which was slightly difficult considering her own tiny body. Satisfied that no noise had been made she began to make way for the opposite direction of the threat. Worry flitted across Sakura's face.

'This is going to be a major set back, the Hyuuga's could arrive at any moment, and I need to get to the barrier before that happens.' All but two of the detectors she had placed since leaving Konaha had gone off. Meaning the Hyuugas were not far away and they were right on her trail.

Picking up her pace with new found drive she determined her location, was close to the mist border, making that her best bet for safety. A faint fog began to cover her path as she approached the mist, the deeper she went the thicker the fog became, not daring to slow her stride she continued onward through the dark haze.

She heard it long before she saw the flash of blade, digging her heels into the ground and averting the strike as a massive sword blocked her path narrowly missing cutting her in half. Adjusting the girl on her back, Sakura jumped backward a few feet, and crouched ready to dodge again.

Out of the fog calmly walked out a man, he hefted the large sword over his shoulder lazily examining her with slight boredom. His mouth and chin was covered with wrappings, she could never forget this man.

"Zabuza" she whispered anxiously to herself, watching one of his eyebrows lift.

"You have something that is mine." He voice was calm, he dug his sword at the ground and gestured his hand forward. Confusion set in, not sure what to do, she shifted her foot back a step and sent a pulse of chakra into the ground through the heel of her foot. Webs of her Chakra trailed through the area, gather sensory information for her. As she suspected the Zabuza in front of her was a water clone. She could sense the Chakra of at least three others in the area. The fog was making it difficult to determine their exact location.

"Don't want to play fair?" he questioned with cynical humor evident in his voice. "Fine I'll play it your way." For the first time she noticed the hand that Zabuza had behind his back, he slowly raised it forward until he held in front of him the last thing Sakura expected to see. Dropping the weight off her back she gasped in shock.

Grasped in his large hand was the unconscious form of one Hyuuga, Hinata. For the first time Sakura looked back for a clear look of who she had been carrying, only to be surprised to find a young boy with long black hair unconscious on the ground. Words lost in surprise she jumped back from the boy on the ground.

"Good, now prepare to die." And with that he threw Hinata to the side and charged.

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A naruto time travel fic is not a time travel fic without Zambuza and Haku! Thank you readers, R&R please!

- Dramamine


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